It is common practice, particularly in areas adjacent to the ocean, to provide large umbrellas for shade. For instance, resort hotels commonly provide a series of these umbrellas that are semi-permanently mounted in a patio facing the ocean. Tables and chairs and the like are located under the umbrellas for the convenience of the hotel guests. The post for each umbrella may be located in a socket formed in the ground or in the patio floor. The canopy is folded at night and raised again in the morning by means of a hand crank. However, because such umbrellas are so large, they are particularly suspectible to the action of the wind. Even on a relatively calm day, a strong gust of wind can lift the umbrella out of its socket and project it through the air. Such umbrellas are expensive, so that repairing or replacing them can be quite costly. In addition, the accident can take place when there are people in the vicinity and they can be injured by the flying umbrella. Additionally, expensive damage can be caused to other adjacent equipment when the accidental projection of the umbrella takes place. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide an umbrella which, when acted upon by a gust of wind, folds or collapses instead of flying through the air.
Another object of this invention is the provision of an umbrella constructed so that the wind causes it to fold to a limited extent when subjected to wind forces.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a large umbrella for the beach or the like which wind will not project through the air to cause damage to itself or to persons in the vicinity.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide an automatically collapsing umbrella which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which is capable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenance.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a large-size, semi-permanent umbrella which is safe to use even when strong gusts of wind are encountered.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.